Research published last week by IT recruitment agency CW Jobs has shown that the demand for London-based IT jobs has risen 18% year-on-year in Q2 2011 – the 8th consecutive quarter in which demand has risen.

London now accounts for up 1/3 of all IT jobs in the UK, with more than 37,000 positions advertised in the second quarter of 2011 alone. As companies continue to flock to the area, with the number of start-ups in the area almost doubling in the past year, this trend is likely to continue.

Developer roles appear to have benefitted most from the surge in vacancies, accounting for up 39 per cent of all jobs advertised, whilst SQL, C, C#, Java and .NET continue to be the top five most sought-after skills for both permanent and contract positions. Agile skills saw an increase in demand of 9 per cent in the first quarter.

“The quality of IT candidates in the UK is extremely high and often underestimated, so by positioning London at the centre of the technology world, we hope students, graduates and IT specialists will be inspired to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.”